southwest museum's field work on san nicolas island

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SOUTHWEST MUSEUM PAPERS NUMBER TWENTY-TWO ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS on SAN NICOLAS ISLAND by BRUCE BRYAN SOUTHWEST MU.SEUM HIOBLAlfD PAllK, Los AlfOZL1U, CALIPOlllfIA 900+2 1970

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SOUTHWEST MUSEUM PAPERS

NUMBER TWENTY-TWO

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS

on

SAN NICOLAS ISLAND

by BRUCE BRYAN

SOUTHWEST MU.SEUM

HIOBLAlfD PAllK, Los AlfOZL1U, CALIPOlllfIA 900+2

1970

SAN NICOLAS ISLAND

APPENDIX

The Southwest Museum's Field WorkOn San Nicolas Island

By CHARLES E. ROZAIRE

139

Field work by the Southwest Museum on San NicolasIsland during 1960 consisted of the following:

... . .' \ ." , ."

1. Excavations at Site SNI-Sl in order to obtain cul­tural remains and datable raw materials in strati­graphic context.

2. Putting down two test pits at Site SNI-9 in thehope of gaining further stratigraphic informationregarding the northeast portion of the island andsome specific artifact types, such as projectilepoints, which seem to be rare in the south-centralportion.

3. Making a spot surface survey of certain areas tocheck on the occurrence of particular classes of. cul­tural material, including such perishable· items as""oven sea-grass water bottles, cordage, matting,md~l~ .. .

4. Salvaging an isolated burial eroding out of thesurface in the vicinity of Site SNI-97 (just west ofSite SNI-38).

Inhumation Near Site SNI-38This isolated human burial was found with the top of

140 ARCHAEOLOGICAL ExPLORATIONS ON SAN NICOLAS ISLAND

the skull exposed in a cut bank of consolidated, cream-color­ed; sterile dune sand about 1000 yards from the shore. Nomidden soil was associated with the burial, though shellsare seen thinly scattered on the heavily eroded surfaces ofthe slopes south of the site toward the ocean. The bones,lying a maximum of 33 inches below the surface, were con­tained within an oval grave pit, the faint outlines of whichmeasured 23 by 37 inches. The burial was tightly flexed, inventral position, face down and head pointing to the south.

The individual was a male and in his early twenties.Interestingly, the two hemispheres of the frontal bone hadnot united, as usually occurs after the first few years of life,thus producing a metopic suture from bregma to nasion.[A skull with a frontal (metopic)' suture was also found bythe 1926 expeditionl. The only associated cultural remainswere a few bits of plain 2-element, S-twined woven sea grassand fragments of S-strand, 2 Z-yarns cordage which may to­gether constitute the remnants of a cape (since they wereconcentrated in the area of the scapula) or a shroud.

Work at Site SNI-51Work was continued at Site SNI-5l by taking two five­

foot squares down to sterile base, excavating two others todepths of 54 and 30 inches respectively, and digging along

'" a portion of. the east side of the cut bank to get a straightvertical surface to' show ~p' strat~ 'arid expose' some wovensea grass that was eroding out.

The work of exposing a portiori of the east cut bankwas undertaken in the last few days of work at SNI-51 in1960, and there was not enough time left to dig a regularfive-foot square down to check extensively the strata wheresome of the woven sea grass was weathering out. Only thelower portion of the embankment was carefully dug backabout two feet to get a smooth, straight face that would showup the strata more distinctly (Fig. 1).

In the course of this work the strata at the six-footlevel yielded a fragment of plain 2-element, S-twined sea­grass fabric (28-F-96d), S-strand, 2 Z-yarns sea-grass cordage

!~~:~~~~............

" , figure 1. Vertical 'cuts exposing lower strata in east face of St·U·51.

(28-F-9S), a fragment of a spatulate bone tool (28-F-93g),and two porphyry flake scrapers (28-F-lOlb, i), and charcoal.

The two squares (153, 154) taken down to base provideda stratified sample of artifacts, some shell and charcoal ma­terials for dating, and additional information on the midden's

'profile. The latter (Fig. 3) shows a somewhat variable depositwith many relatively short lensings rather than long, continu­ous strata. This situation probably reflects the various undu­lating surfaces characteristic of changing dune sand. The topportion is a relatively continuous midden with occasionalheavy concentrations of shell, sea urchins and charcoal whichare ,loosely compacted. With increasing depth sterile areasare more frequent and'much indurated with midden debrisscattered throughout. No features were encountered in thepits, but over 50 artifacts were recovered.

Since only two pits were taken down to base it is feltthat the sample of the lower layers (only 22 artifacts below48 inches) is not yet sufficient to make adequate interpreta-

142. ARCHAEOLOGICAL ExPLORATIONS ON SAN NICOLAS ISLAND

tions of stratigraphic differences. However, it is interestingto note that the following did come from below the four-footlevel:

1 metate6 shell fishhooks1 bone barb1 bone gouge or adze blade4 core scrapers1 uniface chopper1 small piece of sandstone showing grinding1 uniface mano1 pestle (?) endSome cordage fragments ..

Manos are the only artifacts that appear to have somepossible significant depth difference in that they all occurbelow 24 inches, while the other types are scattered throughalmost continuously from six inches on down. Items recoveredhom the surface indude a bird bone whistle, two bone flakers,two bone awl tips, a flat, pointed bone implement, a frag­ment of stone pendant and a piece of asphaltum withbasketry impression. Examples of shell and animal boneswere kept in all pits for all levels in order to check on possibleindications of dietary differences.

.- :. '. The Burials"at Site SNI-51··During a casual surface survey one noon hour a crema­

tion and an inhumation were discovered eroding out upslopeabout 225 yards from the road and the excavated squareof SNI-51. These burials were on the east edge of a heavilyeroded midden area measuring 180 yards north-south and30 yards east-west, adjacent to and slightly northwest of themain SNI-51 site, separated only by a narrow, shallow gullywith very Fe,,' shells between. Nevertheless it is assumed thatthis section constitutes a part of Site SNI-51 and could becalled the upper portion of it.

Cremation. The cremation (Fig. 2) was found erodingout of the side of a cut bank 14 inches below ground surface.

Fig'ur. 2.Cr9malf~n ;aunci "foelin; oiiof slop. 01 north edge of SNI·.51. '

The fragmented and charred bones were contained in asaucer-shaped pit dug seven inches into the compacted sterileyellowish-cream sand. The maximum diameter was 35 incheseast and west and 24 inches across in the opposite directionto where it had been weathered away on the north side. The

'soil in the bottom of the' pit was slightly reddish and wascovered by a thin layer (less than ~ inch thick) of chunksof charcoal. Charcoal and dark earth filled the rest of thepit, and it was in this matrix above the thin charcoal layerthat most of the fragmented human bone occurred.

, Though the bones 'were carefully exposed there was no '.apparent pattern to,~em to give a clue as to the originalposition. It would appear that the remains constitute' asecondary burial which had been cremated, and in the courseof burning the bones had been poked around to insure thatthey were fairly well consumed by the fire. Another possibleindication of this situation is the occurrence of over 1300 shelland bone beads scattered throughout the pit. It could also

. .Figure 3. Inhumation 25 feet north of cremation at SNI·51. 01 found.

be the case that, rather than having been strung, the beads.had been thrown loosely into the cremation fire during theburning. Curiously enough, over half of them were notcharred.

Also in the cremation pit were a few small chunks of... red and' yellow ocher, five' pfeces 'of small fock, shell and""

animal bone fragments. In addition, above the cremationw~re almost 100 tarred pebbles, scattered about in smallclusters of three or four. The cremation was associated withthe remnant of a shallow, compacted, dark-colored midden 10to 14 inches thick. A five-foot-square area east of the cre­mation was dug, but it yielded only a bird bone awl, threeolivella disk beads, a tarred pebble and a flake of milky quartz.

Inhumation. The inhumation (Fig. 3) was discoveredabout 25 feet north of the cremation. A human pelvis andsome long bones were weathering out of a small erosionalgully about two feet deep. As the burial was laid bare it wasobserved that it had already been partially exposed in the

ARCHAEOLo(;ICAL ExPLORATIONS ON SAN NICOLAS ISLAND 145

past, as indicated by the bleached white appearance of someparts of' other bones, which had subsequently been coveredover again by the slumping of the walls of the gully. Thevery compact, sandy, light-colored soil contained a few scat­tered shell fragments and some bits of charcoaL

The bones \vere disarticulated, broken in some instances,mLxed and scattered over an area about 41 inches square, in­dicating a secondary burial. The skull was upright at thesouth end, facing west. Some small scraps of woven sea grass(plain 2-element, S-twined) and fragments of cordage (S­strand, 2 Z-yams) were associated with the bones in a fewplaces. A weathered and bleached white piece of shaped whalebone that may have been an abalone pry was on the surfacein the vicinity of the burial and was the only other possibleassociation.

F.xcavations at Site SNI-9Site SNI-9 showed promise of amplifying Our informa­

tion regarding artifact types both from a spatial and strati­graphic vi~wpoi~t. A'variety 'of implements (projectile points,'awls, etc.) and ornaments (beads, pendants, etc.) had beengathered from the windswept surface by Navy personnel.Surface materials included in .the Museum's collectionsinclude:

3 manos (2 biface, 1 uniface)2 pestles4 flake scrapers2 projectile point fragments1 conical porphyry scraper plane1 coarse, sandstone reamer1 shell fishhook blank1 bone flaker

Th~ site' has many broke~ .cobbles scattered about itstop and human bones had weathered out in several places.Its high, steep slope would seem to indicate some depths ofsignificance in the deposit that might afford the discoveryof many kinds of artifacts in stratigraphic context and providea further check on work at SNI-Sl. Possible additional infor-

146 ARCHAEOLOGICAL ExPLORATIONS ON

mation on burial patterns was another incentive to check thesite.

. The results, as they turned out, were disappointing, butnot too surprising in view of the fact that the site is sogigantic (extending east-west along the shore one quarter ofa mile and about 200 yards wide) and that only two dayscould be spent by two individuals to dig two five-foot squaresand screen all the soil. These pits were put down on thehighest point of the midden at the eastern edge of the site,about 45 yards west of a small embayment.

The first test pit revealed a top deposit of very black,friable sandy soil extending to a depth of 17 inches, followedby a layer of sterile yellow sand down to 40 inches where asecond stratum of dark occupational soil 6 inches thick wasexpOsed. Another layer of sterile sand 7 inches thick occurredbelow, with a thin dark lens of midden 5 inches thick. Asmall hole, about one foot square, was dug in the northeastcomer down to a maximum depth of 88 inches, 30 inchesunder the third midden,' and only sterile compacted dunesand was encountered.

The second test pit was laid out 23 feet south of the first,and was several feet lower than the other in the dune. Theblack sandy midden extended to a depth of 18 inches, whenit changed to a yellowish-white sterile soil devoid of shell orcharcoal. A small hole, about one foot square, dug in thenortheast comer down to' a: .depth· of -52' inches, revealed noother successive midden layers as encountered in the first testpit. Apparently the site is characterized by variable limitedlens-shaped deposits which would provide a different stratifiedpicture for isolated test pits, and extensive trenching would berequired to determine the variations and relationships of theseveral strata.

The top layer of the first test pit and the deposit of thesecond yielded all but two of the artifacts recovered fromthese limited excavations. The two other items come from thesecond level of test pit # I and consist of a broken fishhookblank and a crude small scraper plane; a broken piece ofwhite quartz from level 2 and two small dark quartzite flakes

SAN NICOLAS ISLAND 147

from level 3 are the only other clues to aboriginal imple­ments. The rest of the artifacts include 11 shell fishhooks, 1bone tube (bead?), 3 bone awl tips, one well-shaped bonepiercing(?) tool with tip missing, 2 bone flakers, 2 spire­lopped Olivella beads, 1 Olivella bead with both ends groundoff, 1 spire-lopped conus bead, 1 Olivella disk bead, 1 flat ovalsteatite bead, 1 keyhole limpet circlet,S crude core scrapers,2 cobble hammerstones, half of a sandstone reamer, 1 brokenrock with a pecked groove around it, an abalone shell frag­ment with tar inside, and 9 tarred pebbles.

General Surface Survey of the IslandA random cursory surface survey was made of various

areas on the island in order to check on the occurrence ofvarious classes of artifacts so as to expand the range of avail­,able comparative material and learn of possible other siteswhich might yield significant finds for future investigationand excavation. Materials were collected from the surface of23 sites and. are listed as foll()ws:

SNI-4SNI-7SNI-8

SNI-lOSNI-llSNI-12

Large flaked stone picks (2)Basketry impressions in asphaltumSmall metateSmall hopper(?) mortarSmall manos(?) (4)ManoPossible pestleScraper planes (5)Possible scraper planes (2)Small picks (2)Used flakers (2)

'Possible used flakers (5)Scrapers (6)ReamerGrooved pebbleLarge flaked scraperSmall elongate rockSmall flaked stone picks (3)Head of a fragmentary phallic(?) pestle,

148 ARCHAEOLOGICAL ExPLORATIONS ON

SNI-14 Used flake.SNI-15 PesdeSNI-16 Weathered scraper planes or cores (2)

Scraper planes, rounded bottoms (4)ScraPers (2)Core hammerstones (2)Small pickLarge flaked stone pickFlat oval rock showing grindingProjectile points of shale-like material (3)Piece of chert

SNI-18 ScraperSNI-21 Fragment of "doughnut" stone .SNI-25 Bottom portion of small steatite bowl

Used flakeSNI-47 MetateSNI-53 Core(?)

Small graver or drillSNI-55 Scrapers (2)

Small pick(?)Stemmed chert bladeTriangular obsidian bladeHandle of steatite dipperSmall rectangular rock with pecked grooves

SNI-57 Double-~nded p~tle.Mano" '. .. '...,

Oval stone with pecked depressions"Doughnut" stoneUpper portion of phallic(?) stoneCurved rock

SNI-58 Flattened elo~gate pestle-like rockSNI-59 Large crude scraper plane

Used flakeSmall hammerstone(?)

SNI-62 Triangular rock with depression on both sidesPossible scraper

SNI-88 ManoSNI-91 Small flaked stone pick

SAN NICOLAS ISLAND 149

PestleOval rock with groove around centerElongate rock pecked along 2 sides, rubbed

along other 2 sidesSNI-92 Mano(?)

Pestle(?) of siltstoneFragment of elongate pestle~shaped rock with

wide grooved lines pecked inSNI-94 Conical (weathered) scraper plane

Conical rock with depression pecked in flatbottom

Scraper (weathered)Flaked stone pick or scraper(?)Grooved pebble .

SNI-99 Large flaked stone pickScraper planes (large) (3)Scraper planes (small) (3)

. ~crapers(4) _. _ '. _. _. _ _ ..Pestles (including fragments) (4)Manos (2)Grooved cobbles (3)Hammerstones and choppers (5)Grooved rim fragment of sandstone bowl

The survey was rewarding in that a few (presumablyearly) non-shell midden -sites were located, some artifactsheretofore not found on or described for the island were re­vealed, and artifacts with a wider range of characteristics fortypes already known were acquired.